1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to a new leg retainer or truss for poultry or fowl and pertains, more specifically, to a retainer for securing a leg of a small fowl during processing, shipping and cooking.
2. Prior Art
Halves of eviscerated poultry such as chicken are being made available for cooking. Since chicken legs tend to loosen during cooking, it is often the practice to secure the leg of the chicken close to the body to provide uniformity amongst the chicken halves and facilitate packaging and cooking. The current practice is to secure the chicken leg with string. Unfortunately, the installation of the string is labor intensive. In addition, the string is often difficult to detect after the chicken half has been cooked and, as a result, is eaten by the consumer.
Accordingly, a primary object of the present invention is to provide a retainer for use with half of a body of eviscerated poultry to secure a leg to the half body during shipping and cooking.
Another object of the invention is to provide a retainer of the above character which is suitable for use with small poultry such as chicken.
Another object of the invention is to provide a retainer of the above character which can be easily attached to the chicken body.
Another object of the invention is to provide a retainer of the above character which attaches to the chicken leg behind the hock.
Another object of the invention is to provide a retainer of the above character which can attach to either the meat or bone structure of the chicken.